Photo by J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune
Business is booming for the Sanctuary Art Studio
Drew Terhall
June 24, 2021
Even during a pandemic, the tattoo business has been busy.
The Sanctuary Art Studio, located at 192 S. Main St, opened about a year ago right before the pandemic had started. While they were open, they were getting constant business.
“In the middle of all of it, people were still wanting to get tattoos. It’s crazy, it has never slowed down. We are never just sitting around here,” owner Freddy Stoldt said.
Stoldt and Ryan Nickens own the tattoo and piercing shop.
Stoldt first started tattooing five years ago in Findlay. Before that, he was a welder for eight years.
Stoldt said while in Findlay, he heard about Nickens and his work at Murder Ink in Bowling Green.
A couple years later, Stoldt went to work at a tattoo shop his friend opened in Bowling Green. He said he first met Nickens when they worked at that shop together.
Eventually, both of them wanted to leave the shop and open a place together.
“I’ve been tattooing for 14 years. You always want to own your own shop and we got tired of the owner at the shop we were working at,” Nickens said.
Nickens said they bought the place they are currently at and haven’t looked back since.
Owning a shop has allowed Soldt to create a space where he can enjoy working at. Stoldt said he had problems in the past working with and working for people he didn’t like.
“It’s not like a normal job, I can’t go ‘Hey, this guy tried to fight me,’ to HR and they get rid of them,” he said. “I go to the owner and say, ‘Hey, this dude tried fighting me in front of clients.’ The owner will say, ‘What do you want me to do? Go fight outside.’”
Stoldt also said he likes the control he has over the decor. He doesn’t like the “dark and scary” decorations most tattoo shops have. He said he wanted to make his shop look more welcoming.
People from around the country will travel to get a tattoo at the shop. Stoldt said last week, a woman drove from Pittsburgh to get a tattoo. The day before that, a woman flew in from Wisconsin to come to the shop.
With clients from everywhere, the shop is set to be busy for the next couple of months.
“I’m booked out until mid-September. Freddy closed his book because he’s booked farther than that,” Nickens said.
With the increase in business, the shop does see their share of unusual requests. Stoldt said he only does tattoos that he thinks will turn out good.
“I had a girl who wanted her mom’s portrait on her shin. But, she wanted it split open with Satan,” Stoldt said.
They also see a lot of the same tattoos being requested.
Stoldt said there will be different phases they see. This past year, the shop saw a lot of women wanting bumblebee tattoos and the men wanting a pocket watch and rose tattoo.
Nickens and Stoldt are in the process of moving the shop to a new building, right across the street from where they are now. Nickens said the new place is similar in size, but likes the layout of the new place more.
Stoldt said with the clientele they have, they could move anywhere and be successful. But, he likes staying in the small town of Bowling Green.